HADRON Emergent

by Stephen Arseneault

  “Those Targarians are crack at medicine. They can save it.”

  Mace winced as he pointed. “I don’t think so. That bonesaw says otherwise.”

  Johnny shuddered as he looked away. “Wish I hadn’t seen that.”

  Mace sighed. “At least we have him alive. He’s just going to have to adapt. Let’s hope it doesn’t take down his spirit having to be stuck here on the back lines.”

  The shuttle again departed for Earth. The base at Organ Cave was soon stocked and ready for use.

  Mace stood in front of the others. “We start with London. From there we come back to D.C, then up to Toronto, over to Berlin, and down to Sydney. After that we ask Stark where the most critical need is.”

  Johnny pulled Mace to the side as the others began to discuss. “I just had a thought. We have those electromagnetic wave ships just sitting parked out there. What if we took those out to Dedrus space and start hammering their colonies with them? We could sit ten days out, fire the beams for that ten days, and then move before they come out to find us. Might be a way to force them into coming back here to remove their troops.”

  Mace thought for a moment. “If we still had the wormhole weapon I would be all for that. As it stands, if they bring ships back here, we can’t defend against them. Is it worth the risk?”

  Johnny shrugged. “I say we throw it to the wolves here and find out.”

  Mace raised a hand. “We might have an additional option. The EM ships we have mothballed. We could turn those over to the Targarians for use against the Dedrus. We might be able to persuade them to withdraw their troops. Our only problem is we don’t want their warships showing up here. Only transports. Given they were attacked last time, they might not be willing to do that. And there’s always the chance they just come at us full force. We have no way to defend against that anymore.”

  Liam said, “I don’t think we should risk it. We should give our current strategy a go first. If it works, we won’t need to engage those ships at all.”

  The others followed Liam’s lead. A vote was taken with only Johnny supporting his suggestion.

  Mace said, “Sorry, was a good thought. I think we’re just all paranoid about any Dedrus ships returning here.”

  Johnny shook his head. “They’re going to come back. These are their troops. They aren’t gonna just leave them here to die.”

  Mace winced. “It looks like that’s exactly what they did. Although, I’m sure they weren’t counting on us being here to help with weapons and ammo.”

  The discussions came to an end a short time later. Mace, Jenny, Johnny, Jordan, Liam, Hans, Humphrey, and Fatso Geerok boarded the shuttle.

  Johnny sat next to Fatso. “You sure you’re up for this?”

  Geerok nodded. “With this battlesuit I’m up for just about anything. I often just wear it straight through the night. As with Mr. Collins, I believe it helps tremendously with old joints like my own. I can maneuver and run like someone a third my age. So yes, I’m up for this. You?”

  Johnny chuckled. “I’m always up for this. These are invaders on my home soil. Of course I’m sure you realize what that means, seeing as how you were once an invader here.”

  Geerok nodded. “Indeed. It means you won’t hesitate to kill, maim, or otherwise incapacitate anyone who is not of your species.”

  Johnny smiled as he held his glove out as if taking aim. “And including a few who are. Take Stark… I wouldn’t mind incapacitating that loser. Especially given what he just cost the old man. I just hope he can recover from the loss of an arm.”

  “I believe Mr. Collins to be a resilient person,” said Geerok. “He will find a way to contribute.”

  Johnny patted the former Mawga admiral on the back. “Let’s hope so.”

  The shuttle approached the D.C. area at a kilometer of altitude. Jenny performed a bioscan as she circled once around the former Washington Mall. The four sets of bridges connecting the Arlington area to the prior capital of the United States were all down. The Dedrus troops, a hundred seventy thousand strong, lined the Arlington side of the Potomac. Fifteen thousand Human bio signatures could be seen stretching from Hains Point up to the former Georgetown University.

  Jenny set the Royal Fortune down on the back side of Arlington Cemetery near the Robert E. Lee memorial. The ramp lowered, facing west, and the eight fighters emerged with their holo-projectors activated.

  “Remember where we parked,” said Mace. “If you get separated, call out before taking a shot. If you find you’re the only one shooting in an area, take a break. Come back here to regroup. There are Dedrus soldiers just the other side of the Lee memorial. However, I think it best if we hustle up to just across from the University and then work our way south. And buddy up. Always stay within earshot of your buddy. Work as teams. And expect chaos on their part, so don’t fret about using your voice. Somebody looks your way… take them out.

  “Now… I’ll be calling cadence as we hustle up to our first action. Just listen for my voice and follow. I’m sure we’ll be bumping each other. If you get knocked over, just get up and keep going. Understand?”

  The question was followed by silence. “Tell me you people are not all nodding.”

  Laughs were followed with, “Understood.”

  Mace started chanting the cadence of Momma Momma. The others jogged along at what would have been a full-out run without the help of the built-in exosuit skeleton. The jaunt took just under five minutes.

  The Dedrus troops were lined up twenty deep along the shore. The occasional laser burst shot across the water, usually leaving a smoldering wall upon impact.

  Mace stopped the others. “Up there… we go on top of the hotel. When we get up top, let me handle any troops that are up there. After that we line the roof and we should have clear shots at the lot of them. Give them everything you have for three minutes. Then we come back and start moving south.”

  Liam said, “Looks like we might be here longer than ten minutes.”

  Mace replied, “It does. But we’ll use our results here as a template. Maybe from here on we just drop in a team of two for a half hour.”

  Hans Mueller stepped up with a suggestion. “Why not split into teams of two right now? Place units a kilometer apart. Give fifteen minutes for the others to get into place and then we all attack at once. We give ten minutes of fire and then return to the shuttle.”

  Johnny added. “I think we do more damage that way. We start ravaging this one spot and they are gonna scatter. We catch four sections at once and we might just knock out their command. Stark’s boys could then finish the job.”

  Mace asked, “Everyone good with that plan?”

  The group replied with yeses.

  “OK, Jenny and I will stay here. Johnny, you go with Geerok to the first station. Mr. Mueller, you and Mallot take the second. Crawford and Hobbs get the third.

  “And just so there are no issues… you have twenty minutes to get to your posts. And remember… always within earshot of each other. Start your timers… now.”

  Boots could be heard as they hustled away.

  Mace said, “Miss Taub, can I invite you up to the sky-deck for a beverage and a game of turkey-shoot?”

  Jenny replied, “I believe you can. Lead the way.”

  The two entered the lobby of the hotel building through the blown-out front doors. A stairwell was located and the twelve stories to the top climbed. The door to the rooftop was open.

  Mace peered out. “We have two groups.”

  Jenny replied, “Check out the two bodies. That look like standard head wounds to you?”

  Mace said, “Snipers. Let’s hope they don’t decide now is a good time to pick anyone off.”

  “Jenny stared at the bodies for several seconds. “I think we’re OK. They aren’t fresh.”

  Fifteen Dedrus soldiers and five officers stood atop the roof. Some looking through binoculars as others pored over holo-images, reviewing possible strategies.

  Mace felt
for Jenny, taking her arm and pulling her to just behind a wall enclosing various utility needs. “We have sixteen minutes. You take these guys over to the left. I’ll take the ones down to this end. Then we sweep around and hit that east side. Should only take us thirty to forty seconds to clear this roof top. After that we just cut loose on the troops below. If you see any that look like officers, target them first. You ready for this?”

  Jenny laughed. “After driving the bus for so long… wouldn’t miss it for anything. Time to turn some of these pointy-heads inside out.”

  Mace chuckled. “If these were blasters, maybe. You’re more likely to flatten them and send them flying. Pick your angles right and you might even be able to take out a few of the ones down below with the falling bodies.”

  “Aren’t we a couple sickos.”

  “War is a sick job. You do what it takes to keep your sanity.”

  The next minutes passed without talk. The countdown timer ticked down to thirty seconds.

  “We go on thirty,” said Mace. “Miss Taub, good shooting and God bless.”

  “Let’s just hope this whole effort bears fruit. Too many lives at stake out there.”

  “Ten… five… let ‘em rip.”

  Jenny was the first to get off a shot, sending two unsuspecting Dedrus soldiers flying off the building’s edge into the open air. Mace followed with a triple. Jenny’s next hit saw four taken out as they looked curiously at their flying friends. Two more shots from each and the western top of the building was cleared. Jenny felt forward, placing her hand on Mace’s shoulder as he sprinted around to the other side. Multiple blasts from each attacker saw the rooftop cleared in under thirty-five seconds.

  Mace said, “Up to that edge and then target everything you can. Officers first, clusters second.”

  Jenny was again the first to fire. The invisible concussion wave left the tip of her glove as a roiling ball of air. As the ball made contact with an officer who was looking up, his body crumpled and twisted as it was driven into the ground.

  Mace said, “Adjust your spread for wider. You want about five meters wide from this distance. That will take out anyone within that radius.”

  “Adjusted.”

  The carnage lasted for five minutes. Half a dozen laser blasts impacted various windows of the building as the soldiers under attack took shots at anything they found suspicious. Most who fired were dispatched with the next outgoing blast from the thunder gloves. The ground between the hotel building and the riverbank shook and rumbled with the continuous barrage.

  Jenny said, “I’m running thin on targets over here. Moving around behind you to the corner over there.”

  “Roger that. Keep the occasional eye on our backs. Someone is bound to come up here looking.”

  Jenny yelled back as a stiff breeze blew up from the Potomac. “Got it.”

  Two minutes later, Mace said, “Coming around to your side.”

  Jenny replied, “I’m running out here as well. The concentrations are on the other side of that bridge abutment.”

  Mace adjusted the dispersion range. “Add seventy-five meters to your range. Focus on the ones closer to the bridge and then moving away down the parkway. I’ll be cleaning the streets back here behind us for our exit.”

  Jenny yelled, “We still have five minutes to kill. Ten might have been too long.”

  Mace replied, “I agree. Just keep picking off strays if that’s all you can manage. Meet me at the door when the time is up.”

  As Mace approached the doorway the steel door was flung open. Three crouched Dedrus soldiers were looking out onto the building’s roof. A quick shot from Mace blasted the three down the stairs, slamming into the back wall. Jenny was right behind him.

  “Ready when you are,” she said.

  Mace replied, “We keep blasting all the way to the ship.”

  The Dedrus soldiers were running about without direction. Their leadership had been wiped out along with at least half the troops in close proximity to the hotel. Mace and Jenny exited the stairwell and emerged from the lobby back into the parking lot. As they entered the street in front of the hotel, gunshots could be heard coming from the riverfront.

  Jenny said, “Sounds like Stark’s people are unloading on them.”

  Mace blasted two groups of two soldiers each as they ran. “Pick off any behind us if you can.”

  The jog back to the ship took seven minutes. A large group of nearly a hundred had gathered on the grounds just below where the shuttle was parked.

  Mace came to a stop. “We have to clear them out before the others arrive. Let’s hope the order hasn’t been given to assemble right here.”

  Jenny said, “I’ll work my way around to the ship. When you start blasting I’ll use the distraction to slip aboard. I’ll take her up to five meters and hover. When you have the area clear, I’ll set back down. Just don’t get up under me.”

  Mace replied, “You’ll see bodies flying in about a minute.”

  The Dedrus soldiers were assembling in a neat line as a sergeant barked orders at them. Mace took position at the end of a row. Seconds later, the chaos began. The closer bodies flew up while those behind were hurled back into the other soldiers beyond. From the corner of his eye Mace could see the ramp of the shuttle lower and then lift. The blasts from his thunder glove continued to pour out.

  Fifty seconds after it had begun, the savage assault on the assembling troops came to an end. Two groups that had topped the hill on their way to the designated point reversed their directions, fleeing back toward where they had come from. The team of Crawford and Hobbs was the last to arrive. The shuttle lifted back up to the one kilometer mark.

  Mace said, “We were highly successful. I estimate we just took out half the soldiers in our section. And most of their leadership.”

  Liam replied, “We had similar results. I don’t think they will have an issue defending D.C. anymore.”

  Hans added. “I think we took out as many on the run back as we did during the fight.”

  Johnny said, “Mr. Geerok here was an animal. We managed to keep them pinned down near the river’s edge. Stark’s people opened up from the other side.”

  Geerok smiled. “Was a bad day to be Dedrus.”

  Jenny asked, “Where to?”

  A comm came in from Stark. “Excellent work. I won’t ask for a reply because I’d prefer you not give yourselves away. Our boys at D.C. should be able to handle cleaning up the mess you made of our opponents. I’d like to tackle New York next. If possible, we might start considering ways to coordinate our attacks. It would be negligent of us to not do so.”

  Mace said, “I think we head back to Gellos to pick up a pilot and a couple more teams. Then we move on with our prior strategy. We drop teams of two and come back a short time later for a pick-up. We can cover more cities that way.”

  Nods moved around the cabin. After a short flight to free space, Jenny punched in the coordinates for Gellos. The shuttle slipped through a micro-wormhole and was soon settling on the stone floor of the main base.

  Chapter 15

  *

  Two new assault teams and a pilot were asked for. The conference room was flooded with volunteers.

  Jasper Collins stepped into the doorway. “I’d like to throw my hat in the ring.”

  Johnny chuckled. “No stumps allowed on this mission.”

  Jasper scowled. “I’ll beat you senseless with this stump, Johnny Tretcher. Seriously, I understand that I’m not in fighting shape yet, but I could be your pilot. I lost a lot of good people back there. Let me do this. I’m losing my mind just sitting here. I can still enter coordinates and fly.”

  Mace glanced around at the others. “It’s hard to say no to that pouty face, but you still need time for rehab. Sorry, Mr. Collins. You aren’t gonna make this run.”

  Johnny said, “I could say no to that mug all day long.”

  Jasper growled. “Nobody cares what you say, ape-man. Just keep you trap shut or I might p
op you with one of those concussion blasts.”

  Johnny shook his head. “You know you’re really too sensitive sometimes for a crotchety old man.”

  Jasper replied, “And you’re too overgrown and dumb for an ape-man.”

  Mace stood. “OK, I think we’re done here. Everyone meet up at the shuttle in ten minutes. We’re about to do a multi-city tour the likes of which have never been seen before. It’s time to end the Dedrus ground threat.”

  A comm came in from Stark. “We need help here! The Dedrus just rolled out some kind of mortar on us. We’re already having to pull back from our assault at D.C. Other cities are faring worse. If they manage to get us on the run, we’re gonna be far less effective.”

  Mace replied, “We’re on our way. If you have the coordinates of where they’re launching any of those from, have them ready for us. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  Jane met them at the shuttle.

  Johnny said, “You don’t have to do this. We have plenty of people.”

  Jane replied, “I want to do my part. Besides, I don’t want you getting yourself in trouble. If I’m there, I can supervise.”

  Johnny looked at Fatso Geerok. “Sorry, Mr. Geerok, looks like you’ll be getting a new partner.”

  Geerok nodded. “Understandable.”

  The shuttle touched down in D.C. and Johnny and Jane hopped to the ground. Next stop was New York. Fatso Geerok exited with Randall Mabrey, one of Jordan Crawford’s few remaining cohorts. At Boston, Mace and Jenny jumped out. The next stop was London, where Liam Hobbs and Jordan Crawford were dropped. Hans Mueller and Humphrey Mallot were positioned near the Berlin community center. Each two-person team got immediately to work on subduing the enemy.

  The Dedrus troops near Boston had taken position in Cambridge and Somerville. The Washington Street bridge was the only crossing that remained intact. Troops from each camp lined either side of the Charles River. Five thousand armed Humans stood in defiance of nearly fifty thousand Dedrus soldiers, standing neatly at attention. The fields of Paul Revere Park were covered with green-gray uniforms with the red lightning symbol of the Dedrus emblazoned on the flats of their left shoulders. Laser snipers were lying about the failed abutment of the Bunker Hill bridge, keeping their Human counterparts from taking a toll.